1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear fender assembly for a motorcycle of a type designed to move on a leveled ground surface with full gear, as well as on an irregular road, for example, a mountain road or a racing circuit such as a racing course.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The rear fender assembly hitherto used in this type of motorcycle includes a front-half rear fender subassembly, arranged above a motorcycle rear wheel and below a seat assembly, and a rear-half rear fender subassembly extending rearwardly from the seat assembly. The rear fender subassembly has a mudguard flap connected therewith so as to extend slantwise downwardly and a taillight fitted thereto, and the flap has a license plate fitted thereto. See, for example, the Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. 60-46390. In this type of motorcycle, the flap is removed from the rear fender subassembly when the motorcycle is desired to be driven on the irregular road or the racing circuit.
However, it has been found that the rear-half rear fender subassembly of the conventional motorcycle, that is exposed rearwardly of the seat assembly, has a rear end portion susceptible to damage during the run in the racing circuit and, once it is damaged, the rear-half rear fender subassembly in its entirety must be repaired or replaced and this is indeed uneconomical. Also, manufacture of the rear-half rear fender subassembly, which has a substantial length, requires the use of a bulky mold assembly, which is indeed expensive. In addition, since the rear fender subassembly is structured in a one-piece component, the rear fender assembly generally lacks an appealing feature and represents a monotonous appearance.
Particularly where the motorcycle is driven on a racing circuit, the motorcycle generally suffices to be equipped with a minimum number of component parts that are required for driving, but all that can be removed is only the flap and, therefore, the weight of the motorcycle cannot be sufficiently reduced to a value required for the motorcycle to run on the racing circuit because the rear-half rear fender subassembly overlying the motorcycle rear wheel, which subassembly has a substantial weight, is left unremoved.